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Permatex Celebrates 100th Anniversary

Permatex, the automotive maintenance chemical technology specialist, is marking its 100th year in business. The company was founded in 1909 by Constant A. Benoit Sr., a chemist, who started the business with a simple glue he developed for bonding bicycle tyres. At a 24-hour race in 1915 Benoit noticed that many of the cars were constantly blowing head gaskets and pitting for repairs. Benoit came up with a sealant that solved the problem and launched Permatex into the automotive chemical maintenance business.

According to Andy Robinson, general manager of Permatex, “We’ve come a long way since Mr Benoit’s ground-breaking effort helped change the face of endurance racing, but that same pioneering spirit that helped to launch the Permatex brand over 100 years ago continues to drive the company today. His passion for innovation is evident in the wide range of advanced products we are now developing and marketing. Our patented Gel Twist and Gel Squeeze threadlocker delivery systems, ‘torque and go’ 1-Minute Gasket, B-Force 100 per cent biodegradable lubricant, and Low-VOC, foaming action Gasket Remover are just a few of the most recent new product developments that continue Mr. Benoit’s pursuit of better solutions.”

29th July 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Avon Tyres Wishes Customers ‘Best of British’

Avon Tyres is celebrating all that is ‘Best of British’ on two and four wheels, with a competition and poster campaign. All you have to do to is log on to www.avon-tyres.co.uk. Bikers can win a trackday at Castle Combe on Avon VP2 tyres, while visitors to the car site can win VIP hospitality tickets to the season finale of the Avon Tyres British GT Championship at Brands Hatch on 20 September. Runners-up from each competition will be given the chance to win exclusive limited-edition Avon watches.

Cooper Tire Europe (Avon’s parent company) managing director, Julian Baldwin, said: “We are extremely proud of Avon Tyres’ British heritage, both as a manufacturer and a prime mover in the world of motorsport. Two years ago, our parent company’s faith in the quality of our British engineering skills was illustrated by the siting of the firm’s entire European design and technical centre in Melksham.”

23rd June 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Marshal Launches Matrac MH11

Marshal has reported the introduction of its Matrac MH11 tyre, adding that the new line-up is already available nationwide. The directional tread MH11 is designed for top selling family saloons and hatchbacks such as the Ford Focus, Volkswagen Golf and Vauxhall Astra, and is available in a range of sizes from 155/65R13 to 236/60R16 and speed ratings H to V

The MH11 features four wide channels and optimally curved outer tread blocks, which Marshal notes are intended to increase resistance to aquaplaning, and a solid circumferential rib for strong straight line performance. Tyre design was carried out by the company’s European Technical Centre, which is based in Birmingham, UK, a facility it shares with parent company Kumho. Given its local design, Marshal comments that customers can be particularly confident of the tyre’s suitability to Britain’s road surfaces and climate.

3rd June 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

GITI Eyeing European OE Business

In order to strengthen its place in the lucrative European replacement market, and with a view to positioning itself for OE contracts, GITI Tire has invested significantly in the expansion of both the company’s main R&D centre in China and the development of a world-class European Technical Centre (ETC). The ETC is based at the renowned MIRA Ltd. facility near Birmingham in the UK where company representatives emphasised that they are already making thorough use of state of the art test facilities a highly experienced test engineers.

For the team, which is led by experienced tyre R&D expert Eddie Young, the first step was to undertake an extensive benchmark programme in order to gain a full understanding of the main competitor’s current performance levels and strengths and weaknesses with the clear objective of designing and engineering GITI products to reach and even surpass these premium competitor’s performance levels. And when you consider that the global R&D is both international in its representation and comprised of technicians who have previously worked at the highest levels of leading tyre brands, you can understand why the bar has been set so high.

19th May 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

TRW Opens China Test Facility

TRW Automotive Holdings has announced the opening of a new test track in Heihe, northern China. Work at the site began in 2006 and TRW states that during the last three years a “significant investment” has been made in the facility. The track specialises in winter testing and includes a variety of track surfaces designed to test active safety systems such as advanced braking and steering systems and integrated vehicle control and driver assist technologies. According to TRW, the opening of the test track, which is to receive support from the company’s Shanghai technical centre engineers, completes its footprint to locally engineer products and applications for China-based customers.

18th May 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

GITI to Replace Entire Product Range by 2010

GITI Tire (Europe) B.V. has announced that it will completely replace its passenger car and truck product offerings by the opening months of 2010. The brand overhaul also includes the renewal of GT Radial brand positioning this as the company’s flagship brand identity. During a detailed briefing, the company produced data apparently showing that GITI’s ambitious aims of competing on the same level as the premium tyre manufacturers, with the launch of the new range of products, are now within reach. According to the company, large-scale investment in research and development has enabled GITI to markedly improve its product’s performance compared with the previous generation and – crucially – to be prepared for forthcoming legislative requirements.

Speaking from the company’s European Technical Centre at MIRA in the UK, company representatives told Tyres & Accessories that the R&D department has been planning compliance to the forthcoming s-marking requirements since 2006 and is on-track to conform to the next round of legislation in 2012.

15th May 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Kumho Expands High Performance Range

Korea’s Kumho has added two new HP tyres under its Ecsta brand in Europe – the HM KH31, which competes for a slice of the lucrative medium car market, including such perennial top-sellers as the Ford Focus, Vauxhall Astra and VW Golf; and the X3 KL17, which is targeting more luxurious vehicles. The manufacturer also says that it aims to continue to increase its OE business in Europe, an ambition exemplified by the recent agreement with Mercedes-Benz to supply the Ecsta KU19 in size 245/45R18 for the newest model Viano X-Clusive. The company now does global OE business with Chevrolet, Chrysler, Ford, Hyundai, Kia, Mitsubishi, Smart, Volkswagen and Daimler, to whom it has supplied tyres for the A-Class model since 2007.

Kumho’s new KH31 straddles the HP and UHP markets, replacing the company’s own much-vaunted KH11; a tyre that has proved successful in many rounds of European tyre tests. The company’s Birmingham-based European Technical Centre, known as the KETC was instrumental in the development of the new tyre, and the tread pattern, construction, compound and testing were all controlled from there. The key target for improvement was aquaplaning performance – lateral and longitudinal. The company believes that the KETC has been able to build on the abilities of the KH11 to yield further improvements in its wet weather performance.

8th May 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Goodyear SA Invests in Production for Export

Goodyear South Africa’s new managing director, Jean-Jacques Wiroth, has announced an R70-million (£5.4 million) investment in the company’s Uitenhage plant at the first major event he has hosted since taking up the post in early April. These funds are earmarked for the launch of new locally produced tyres – the Wrangler AT/SA for off-road use, the DuraGrip passenger car tyre, and the Duramax G22, developed specifically for the taxi market. These tyres will be exported to sub-Saharan Africa and Europe.

“We are investing not only in the Uitenhage plant to produce these products, via new machinery, new moulds and various continuous improvement projects, but also in our people and distribution channels through continuous training and development,” said Wiroth.

24th April 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Klarius Invests £1.2 million in UK Manufacturing

Klarius Group, the exhaust manufacturer, reports that it is currently enjoying success despite the challenging market having invested £1.2 million in its UK manufacturing and R&D facilities over the last 18 months. According to the company, the investment has gone into moving production arrangements over to lean manufacturing, fast track product development for exhausts and catalytic converters and in-house logistics facilities.

The Klarius Group was formed in August 2007 following the acquisition of the Emissions Control activities of ArvinMeritor Light Vehicle Aftermarket Europe. In its final year of trading prior to the acquisition (2006/2007), the Emissions Control division registered a £7 million operating loss. However, since the Klarius takeover this has been turned around, as evidenced by the Group’s first set of accounts which reveal that Klarius moved into profit well within its first full year of trading. Favourable euro exchange rates have also combined with a strong international sales approach to secure new supply agreements and install new distribution facilities and warehousing across Europe.

8th April 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

T&A Interviews Cooper European Technical Centre Head

Cooper Tire has launched a new ultra-high performance tyre which, the company claims, offers all the performance of the Zeon range, but with the addition of much improved tread life. The new Cooper Zeon CS6 replaces the Cooper Zeon XTC’s V and W-rated sizes. The product’s enhanced tyre tread life is achieved by virtue of a new silica compound which, thanks to computer-aided design technology, offers enhanced grip in wet weather braking and handling situations. However, arguably the greatest claim the company is making about the CS6 is the suggestion that the new tyre offers up to 12 per cent longer tread wear than the XTC.

What’s more, the new tyre has hit the road courtesy of development work at Cooper’s European Technical Centre. Tyres & Accessories recently visited the ETC, which is based on the company’s Melksham tyre production site, and discussed the CS6 and evolution in the company’s tyre development strategy with tech-centre head Marcus Hancock.

7th April 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Pirelli’s Angel ST Achieves New World Duration Record

Pirelli has snagged itself a new 24-hour world record for the duration of its recently launched Angel ST motorcycle tyre. The record was set at the Nardò Technical Centre in southern Italy by Pirelli testers and international journalists riding a 2009 Suzuki Hayabusa 3,190.8 miles at an average speed of 132.9 mph. The test was designed to simulate a road distance of 7,500 miles at speeds of 50-65 mph.

A second bike, a 2009 Kawasaki GTR 1400 also shod with Angel STs also claimed six other records, including the 12-hour world record of 1,555.2 miles at 129.6 mph on average.

18th March 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Kumho’s 4×4 Range Benefiting From Rally Raid Involvement

Although the event Kumho’s 18-inch Rally Raid tyre was developed for – the 2008 Lisbon-Dakar Rally – was ultimately cancelled, the tyre has since achieved success in a number of other competitive domains. And these victories are also in a way a victory for the Korean manufacturer, as no other tyre manufacturer produces an equivalent cover in this size. According to Kumho, the monster tyre with its enormous tread blocks is designed for optimum pace and durability over the sand and rock conditions that prevail on the world’s top Rally Raids. It employs the ultra-tough synthetic fibre ‘aramid’ (short for aromatic polyamide) in its construction for optimum weight and strength.

19th February 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Goodyear Appoints New Luxembourg Tech Head

Formerly general director of the Goodyear R&D Technical Centre in the United States, Marc Junio, has been named the new general director of the company’s Luxembourg Technical Centre in Colmar-Berg. His appointment sees him taking over the role from Joe Zekoski, vice president Global Product Development & Technical Centre Operations, who will repatriate to Akron, Ohio.

19th January 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Goodyear OptiGrip Wins Innovation Award

The Goodyear OptiGrip – SmartWear Technology has been recognised for its new and original features, having received the Luxembourg Business Federation’s Innovation Award for 2008. Chosen for the distinction from a total field of 21 applications, the FEDIL panel concluded that an innovative product such as the Goodyear OptiGrip tyre will strengthen the technical and innovative leadership role of Goodyear, providing a demonstration of the R&D capabilities of its Luxembourg Technical Centre.

10th December 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Kumho KETC Awarded for Rally Raid Programme

The Birmingham-based Kumho European Technical Centre (KETC) has won a major internal award for its work in relation to the Bowler Nemesis Rally Raid programme. The award was granted for the centre’s work on the 275/65R18 KL72 and KL73 tyres it has specially developed for the 500bhp Land Rover-based Bowler Nemesis 4×4 – the covers are the only ones of their size and type available for use in the world’s major rally raid events.

31st October 2008/by Tyrepress Editors